


Contour and Highlights

by dat_heichou



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Actor AU, Fluff, Gift Fic, M/M, One Shot, makeup artist au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 21:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5513699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dat_heichou/pseuds/dat_heichou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean didn't know what to expect when he was made Marco Bodt's makeup artist.  It turns out that surprises can be a great opportunity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Contour and Highlights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marcoandthebodts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marcoandthebodts/gifts).



> Hi marcoandthebodts, I'm your secret Santa! I hope you like it!!

Jean hadn't pictured himself becoming a professional makeup artist.  It was something that just sort of happened.  It started when he helped his older sister in high school when she broke her wrist but wouldn't let that come between her and her winged eyeliner.  Since then, Jean just ended up helping people when they asked.  His friends convinced him to start charging people around prom and homecoming, so he made a few bucks sometimes.  But he still didn't think much of it.

Again, it was his sister that dragged him into the world of professionalism.  Before then, he was just an art student that helped his girlfriends with their makeup when asked.  But his sister Hitch, was a news reporter and said she didn't trust anyone else with a wand of mascara near her eyes.  Since then, other people had started asking him to do their makeup before camera call.

Honestly it took Jean two years to realize that this was technically a job.  Sure people payed him, but he just sort of shrugged and wondered why they didn't pay someone professional.  One day he realized that he had _become_ a professional quite some time ago.

But still, this job felt like his first real professional gig.  He was working on an actual movie set, for crying out loud.  He couldn't believe when he got the job offer, and now that he was actually on set, he believed it even less.

"Can I help you?"  A muscular blonde in a security uniform approached him, bringing an end to Jean's slack-jawed staring.

"Um, yes," Jean pulled out his set I.D., "I'm Marco Bodt's makeup guy.  And I don't know where to set up."  He gestured to his suitcase sized makeup case for emphasis.

"Hair and makeup is this way," the guard answered, starting to lead the way.  "You don't look like a makeup person, if you don't mind me saying that."

"I get that a lot," Jean answered glibly.  He glanced at the name tag on the man's uniform.  Braun, was that supposed to be a pun?

"Well here we are," Braun stopped at a dressing room that said Marco on the door.  "The actors should be dropping by soon for some test runs.  If you need any help, I'm Reiner Braun from security.  Don't be afraid to ask for me."

"Thanks," Jean smiled, waving goodbye to the guard before stopping to set his supplies up.  To be honest, he had no idea what to expect.  He'd mostly done makeup on news anchors before and movies tended to focus on the actor's faces more.  How did he get this job again?  Even _he_ had heard of the actor Marco Bodt before, and he was generally behind on general pop culture knowledge.  Jean figured that for a guy to be that well known, he was probably more than a little conceited.  With that kind of money and popularity, Jean knew that he would be.

Jean felt his heart race in nervousness as the doorknob turned.  This was it.  If he couldn't find a way to work with this guy for the next few months, either the entire time would be extremely awkward or Marco would fire him and he'd be off the set of _Maria Rose_ before the trailers came out.

"Hi, there," a cheerful voice greeted him as the door opened.  "You must be Mr. Kirstein, my new makeup artist?"

Jean looked up at the face in the doorway and froze.  Marco Bodt had to be at least 10 times hotter in person than he was on TV, and he was hot on TV to begin with.  "Um yeah," Jean finally answered, swallowing a couple of times before he could get more eloquent words out.  "Yeah, I'm Jean Kirstein.  The guy being paid to make your face even more camera ready."

Somehow Marco's face was even more attractive when he laughed.  And when he slipped into the chair in front of him, Jean knew that he would like this job.

With Marco reclined in front of him, Jean got to work, asking questions to distract himself away from focusing on those plump pretty lips.  "I never realized you had freckles," he mumbled, noticing how much cuter they made the actor’s face look.

"Most people don't.  They're covered up with foundation before I get in front of any camera."

"That's stupid," Jean frowned as he leaned over to grab a brush.  "The point of makeup is to accentuate what you already have, not cover it up." 

Marco suddenly got quiet after that, and Jean stopped accentuating the sharp curve of his jawline to ask if everything was okay.  When he looked up at the actor's eyes, he found they were slightly watery.  _Oh no_ , Jean thought, _that's it, I'm fired_.

"No, its okay," the actor gave him the tiniest smile in reassurance, "It’s just that people always say that my freckles are the biggest blemish on my face."

"Well," a smirk lit up Jean's face as he began to get back to work, "I'll just have to prove them all wrong.

________________________

Growing up, Marco had hated his freckles.  For many years of his childhood, the other boys in his class teased him for what they referred to as dirt on his face.  That teasing didn’t completely stop until after he started using his sister's foundation in ninth grade.

This past month, Marco had seen more of his freckles than he had since that day in high school.  And for once, Marco realized maybe they weren't a bad thing.  He was nervous when he first showed the other actors and the directors his freckled cheeks on set, but those concerns quickly went away when he saw their reactions.  His costar Christa cooed over how handsome he looked and even director Levi sighed that at least the newbie makeup guy knew how to do his job.

Since then, Marco felt even more comfortable walking around in his own skin.  If Jean thought his freckles were something worth accentuating, then he was probably right.  He knew what looked good, right?  That was technically his job.

And as for his job... Jean was good at it.  After a full month of having Jean lean over his face to apply his makeup, Marco had learned some things about his new makeup artist.  Jean switched between biting his lower lip and sticking his tongue out when he was focusing.  And Jean had the prettiest amber eyes Marco had ever seen.  Considering the amount of time Marco had to sit under Jean's close scrutiny, he spent most of the time admiring Jean's bright eyes and the long lashes that fluttered over them.  Jean's intense focus on what he was doing made it seem like he didn't notice Marco's admiring glances.

Marco shook his head, chasing away the thoughts of his makeup artist.  Even though he was hot, it didn't mean Marco wasn't still worried about how people were reacting to his freckles.  The first promotional video had just been released and Marco was nervous about what the public thought.  He googled _Maria Rose_ on his phone and started looking for reviews.

There were a surprisingly large amount of people that thought his freckles were added on for the movie role, but there weren't any overwhelmingly negative remarks about them.  In fact, most people said they were cute.  Marco couldn't help but smile.  Maybe he wouldn't try to hide his freckles anymore.  And there was someone he needed to thank for that.

The set was winding down for the day as Marco hurried to try and catch Jean before he left.  He saw him in the parking lot talking to Reiner and Marco thanked his lucky stars that someone had stalled him.

The security guard saw him first and smirked, clapping Jean on the shoulder.  "Guess you aren't off hours yet."

"Marco?" Jean turned to him, surprised.  Marco stopped to catch his breath, his obvious rush making Jean worry more. 

"I just wanted to thank you," Marco smiled, hoping he was at least a little more together than he felt, "I was reading the reactions to the promotional videos and they seem to like the freckles."

Realization dawned on Jean's face and that smirk formed on his lips again.  "Am I proving everyone wrong?"

"Yeah," Marco's grin widened.

"Am I proving you wrong?"  Jean’s smile widened as he asked.

"Um," Marco was caught off guard because he hadn’t really talked about how he didn’t like his freckles before.  "Sort of."

Jean's expression softened slightly.  "Well then that's progress."

"Um, I was gonna ask if I could buy you a beer in thanks," Marco folded his hands together nervously.

"Jean would love to," Reiner answered, shooting the man in question a serious look.  "I'll see you guys at work on Monday."  He waved, as he walked off to his car, leaving the other two alone.

“So is that a yes?” Marco asked, laughing at Reiner’s enthusiasm. 

“Yeah,” Jean agreed, giving in to his own laughter, “Where did you have in mind?”

________________________

Jean hadn’t had any of his employers invite him out for drinks before.  Especially to a rather classy bar that Jean would never have considered going to on his own. 

He figured it would be awkward, but Marco seemed great at small talk, chattering away about movie news and some of the fan theories that he had stumbled onto online.  With 12 ounces of beer in his system, Jean felt mellowed out enough to just let Marco ramble on.  The actor’s voice was deep and smooth and Jean let a slow smile form on his lips as he listened.

Marco, however, was not content to just talk on his own.  “Am I talking too much?” he asked, the slightest touch of worry in his dark chocolate colored eyes. 

“Nah,” Jean chuckled, “You seem happy about your job, so it’s fun to listen.”

A pretty pink blush rose on those freckled cheeks as Marco smiled.  “Well, I’m glad I made it this far.  Acting out a story is a lot more fun than standing around for clothing ads.  Although modeling was fun too!”  He laughed, lighting up his smile even more, “I met some pretty cool people modeling.  Actually, I met Levi at a modeling shoot.  I didn’t realize he was a director until after he asked if I had any acting experience and offered me an audition.”

“Wow,” Jean was impressed.  “How did you impress Levi?”

“Honestly,” Marco covered his face with one of his hands, “I was goofing around.  Sasha, another model from the shoot, had a really strong Southern accent and I made one to match hers.  Somehow we started reciting lines from _Gone with the Wind_ between photos.  I don’t know why on earth he was interested at all, to be honest.”

“Really,” Jean mused, trying to imagine an impromptu _Gone with the Wind_ photo shoot reenactment that would impress a prominent director.  No matter how hard he thought about it, he still drew a blank.

“Frankly my dear,” Marco lowered his eyelids as he leaned closer to Jean over the table top, “I don’t give a damn.”  Jean swallowed, suddenly realizing that he had never seen Marco act before. It was almost like watching a different person inhabit his body, in a not-quite creepy way.

“Of course, I had to work my way up.  Levi just got my foot in the door for acting.  This is the first time I’ve made it into one of his big films.”  Marco reverted back to his brighter, more cheerful voice, the husky southern drawl behind him.

The two of them sat there and talked for hours, their empty glasses long forgotten.  Jean found that he wanted to hear more about Marco, see more of his enthusiasm and bright laughter.  When Marco eventually checked his phone and saw that it was nearing midnight, he decided to call them a cab.  As Jean climbed out of the cab at his apartment and Marco waved goodbye, Jean wondered if it was a bad idea to become friends with someone he would only be working with for a few more months.  But at the same time, when he thought about the many expressive faces of Marco Bodt, he couldn’t bring himself to mind.

________________________

The months on the set of _Maria Rose_ seemed to fly by.  Here they were over half-way through filming, and it felt like Marco had just walked on set yesterday.  He sat between scenes, reflecting on just how much he was truly enjoying filming _Maria Rose_.  Christa was fun to act with and Levi was intimidating, but knew how to get the best results out of everyone who worked for him.  And Jean, well Jean was a lot of fun.  Every day, Marco felt like he got to see a little bit more of him.  Just the day before, he had found out that Jean’s older sister introduced him to makeup and that she was coming over on the weekends to show him Levi’s other films, because she declared that he needed to understand just who he was working for. 

Marco really wished that he could find chances to spend more time with Jean.  Since that one night of celebration, they hadn’t met up outside of work and he wasn’t sure how awkward it would be if he asked him to hang out with him again.  As he was sitting there, thinking about the possibilities, the director himself settled into the chair beside him.

"You've been doing better, Bodt," Director Levi stated nonchalantly as he crossed his legs.  "You've been really acting the part of a love-struck fool.  In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were on set now."

"What?" Marco asked, a blush rising to his face.  "What do you mean by that?"

"Redirecting real life emotions in front of the camera is fine, Bodt, I don't really care where they come from.  I just figured you would like to know that you were making romantic daydream faces in public before someone else walked by."

Marco buried his face in his hands, almost at a loss for words.  "Um thanks, sir."

Levi snorted, raising a single fine eyebrow.  "Are you trying to make your noob makeup artist work even harder?  You're going to smudge it and there's not much time before your next scene."

"Shit," Marco quickly uncovered his face, his cheeks blushing even brighter than they were before.  "How bad is it?"

"Not my job to say," the older man responded, "Go ask your boy toy quick."  He calmly sipped at his tea as Marco ran off to his dressing room.  "At least they're entertaining. "

"Jean!" Marco threw open the door to his dressing room, hoping that his makeup artist would still be there.  To his surprise, Jean wasn't alone.  Sitting in his seat was his costar Christa with the front buttons of her shirt undone.

"Next time you're acting in a movie, maybe you should tell you boyfriend to not bite so hard," Jean grumbled, trying to mix up foundations to cover up some dark hickeys along the woman's collar bone.

"Girlfriend," she corrected.  "Try not to assume about sexualities, especially in this line of work."

"Point taken.  I just haven't seen hickeys this dark since I dated a football player awhile back.  Your girl has bite," he laughed and Marco felt his heart skip a beat.  He was about to announce his presence by the door when Jean asked another question.

"So, Christa, can you help a guy out and tell him who's single and likes guys around here?"

"Oh hi Marco," she smiled, as though she hadn't noticed him standing in front of her for the past five minutes.  "Jean was helping me out because my makeup artist was off on lunch break.  He's just about done, so I can come with you for our next scene."

"Um yeah," Marco nodded.  "I was just making sure that my makeup didn't smudge."  At that Jean made quick strides toward him and began a detailed scan of his face.  Marco blushed, still unused to the scrutiny those amber eyes gave him.  Especially now that he realized that Jean was shorter than him, and that meant that Marco just had to lean the slightest bit to--

"You're fine," Jean declared as he glanced at his watch.  "Good thing, ‘cuz you both need to be on set."

Christa buttoned up her shirt and grabbed Marco's arm on her way out the door.  "Thanks, Jean."

Jean leaned against the open door of the dressing room as they hurried away, hoping Marco got the hint.  

________________________

They were down to their final scenes, and Jean was disappointed that Marco hadn’t asked him to hang out again.  Technically, Jean could have been the one to ask, but since Marco was sort of his boss, he’d rather him initiate.   It seemed like nothing else would happen between them, and the filming would be done in a few weeks.  After that, Jean would no longer be needed on set, and he’d probably end up working with news anchors again, his experience with Marco nothing more than a résumé booster and memories.

While he was sitting alone in Marco’s dressing room, moping over what he thought was a lost opportunity, there was a loud booming knock at the door.  When he answered it, he was only mildly surprised to see Reiner.  The security guard had quickly become one of Jean’s closest friends on set, so the main surprise was the fact that the guard was there during his working hours.

“I knew you’d be in here,” Reiner sighed, looking at Jean with the most disappointed look the artist had seen on him.  “You’re not locked in here, you know.  You can go watch the filming.”

“Oh,” Jean scratched at the back of his neck.  “Well, I just figured I’d stay out of the way.”

“You don’t want to see Marco doing what he does best?” Reiner grinned, raising his small eyebrows mischievously.

“Well…”  Before Jean made a decision, Reiner had grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the dressing room.

Once they had a decent view of the set, Jean’s only regret was that he didn’t come see the filming earlier.  Marco’s voice was deep and huskier than normal and he held himself more confidently, with his feet solidly planted on the ground.  Christa seemed tiny and dainty beside him and together they made an appealing image. 

Only the slightest pang of jealousy invaded Jean’s heart as Marco dropped to his knees, begging Christa, er _Maria_ , to stay with him.

“Maria,” Marco crooned, tears brimming on demand as he held her hands in his shaking palms, “Now that I’ve met you, I can’t go back to how I was before.”  He choked back a sob, pulling her hands closer to himself, “You’ve changed me Maria.  I’m a different person now… A better person.”

“But, Brady, I have to go,” Christa whimpered, looking down into his teary eyes, “my family needs me.  I can't just abandon them”

“I’ll go with you,” Marco reasoned, “You mean everything to me, Maria.  I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you.”

Jean tried in vain to keep his tears at bay.  To be honest, he didn’t know much at all about the actual plot of the movie.  He knew the plot synopses and what Marco told him.  He knew it was a romance and that it was sad.  But he didn’t picture Marco on his knees in tears, trying to keep Christa from leaving him.  Even though he knew it wasn’t real, it hurt his heart to watch it.

“They’re good, aren’t they?” A deep voice suddenly appeared beside him.  Jean looked down to see Levi himself addressing them.

“Yes sir!” Jean exclaimed, embarrassed to be caught watching the filming, though many of the other backstage workers were milling around too.

“Marco’s really acting the part of a heartbroken fool,” Levi replied, his calm words making Jean feel even more foolish than before.  There was a pause where Jean belatedly realized that he was probably supposed to say something only as the director made an additional comment.  “I’m going to offer him an audition in my next film once this one is released.”

“Wow,” Jean answered, suddenly almost as captivated by those words as the scene between Marco and Christa.  “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.  He loves working with you.”

“Not as much as some other people.”  The monotone nature to Levi’s words made Jean pause for a moment, wondering what the shorter man was necessarily implying.  Before he got the chance to find the courage to ask, the director distracted him with another bombshell.  “Would you like to work on another one of my films, Mr. Kirstein?”

“What?”

Levi signaled for the scene to end and walked off, not waiting for Jean’s answer.  The makeup artist was about to follow him when Marco caught up to him instead. 

“I’ve never seen you watch the filming before, Jean!  What did you think?”  The actor’s face was red around his eyes, but he looked absolutely radiant in his excitement.

“You guys were great,” Jean smiled, trying to distract himself away from Levi’s words.  “I didn’t realize how sad the movie was, though.”

“Wait ‘til you see the end,” Marco winked.  His eyes brightened with realization and he threaded his fingers together.  “Actually, speaking of seeing it… I was wondering if you were going to the premier.”

“Well, technically I don’t really have clearance to go.  I think it’s just the head of the makeup department, if anything.”

Jean was expecting Marco to be disappointed that he wasn’t going.  If anything, Marco’s excitement seemed to grow greater and he almost bounced on the balls of his feet.  “Would you mind being my plus one, then?”

Jean didn’t think anyone could surprise him more than Levi had.  Marco had managed to prove him wrong.  At least this time, he didn’t need Reiner to accept the offer for him.

________________________

This was the most exciting yet stressful day of his life.  Marco had acted in T.V. shows and a few made-for-T.V. movies before, but this was his first big film and his first red carpet premier.  It comforted him that he wasn’t alone, as he dragged an even more nervous Jean across the carpet past the paparazzi, but his presence added more stress onto his belt.  After this, he and Jean were no longer working together, and he needed to take it into his own hands to ensure that he’d see the young man again.

They settled into their seats, waiting for the film to start.  Now that the cameras were away, Jean seemed to calm down, but if anything Marco got more nervous. 

“You know,” Jean wondered out loud, “I’ve always been curious… I have no idea how I actually got picked for this job in the first place.”

“No one told you?” Marco turned to him in surprise.  “It’s because of Ilse.”

“Ilse?  Isn’t she a reporter for Channel 4?  I remember working with her once.”

“She’s my sister,” Marco smiled, getting embarrassed finding the words.  “And she said you did a good job with her freckles and recommended you to me.  Now I know what she meant by that.”

“So I’ve done my job and proven you wrong about them, huh?”  Jean’s smiling face was suddenly far closer to Marco than he had realized, and the actor could feel his breath stutter in his throat.  He gave the tiniest nod, and Jean leaned in even closer.  Just as their lips were about to touch, the moment was broken as Levi stood to give a short opening before the film started.

The two quickly pulled apart, trying to appear somewhat professional.

“I really liked working with you,” Marco whispered as the lights when down in the theater.

“Good,” Jean replied quietly, “Because from what I’ve heard, Levi might let us work together again soon.”

Marco was right about the film.  Jean cried like a baby.  But his fingers were intertwined with Marco’s, so even if Maria and Brady couldn’t be together, there was hope in his chest that outweighed their on-screen heartbreak.  That hope grew even stronger when their hands were still interlaced when Levi approached them after the film. 

“How do you feel about action movies, Mr. Bodt?” He asked, his voice sounding as bored as usual, though their conjoined hands didn’t pass his notice.  “ _Titan Rising_ should provide Mr. Kirstein with more experience with special effects makeup, don’t you think?”

Marco squeezed the hand in his happily, barely getting out a "Yes!" before Levi nodded in approval and walked off to talk business elsewhere.  A large smile grew on the actor's face and only brightened when he looked over to see Jean's beaming smile.

"So, Mr. Bodt," Jean laughed, knocking their shoulders together.  "How about we go out and celebrate the news?"

"Why Mr. Kirstein, I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
